Here is the Baseball Schedule for Oxford's upcoming 2015 season. If "X/X" is in the time slot, JV will play and it is the first time listed. All times listed unless indicated are for PM. Keys for all symbols are listed at the end of the schedule. Oxford plays 10 of its first 13 games on the road followed by playing the next 7 of 8 at home.

Here is the schedule for the 2014 OHS Soccer Tournament to be held at South Panola, Oxford, and Lafayette High Schools as well as FNC Park where the majority of the games will be played. The tournament takes place December the 19th and 20th. The games will consist of 30-minute halves instead of the usual 40-minutes due to time constraints. Unless noted, all games are Varsity.

Basketball is here once again and region play will start after we turn to a new calendar. Like last year, I will preview all four girls and boys teams in Region 2-5A that includes Oxford, Saltillo, West Point, and New Hope. Ladies first...

Team - West Point , Current Record - 2-6 , Head Coach - Dashmon DaneilThe Lowdown: This West Point girls team is better than last year. Their record hasn't indicated too much improvement but they are scoring about 10-15 points better than last year which should eventually equal to more wins. They are also getting the benefit of New Hope going really south this year but in return they are facing a much better Saltillo squad. The playoffs for 5A also changed where the top 3 get in this year, so with New Hope REALLY down this year, they will have a good shot at making this watered-down playoffs.

Team - New Hope , Current Record - 2-8, Head Coach - Laura Lee HolmanThe Lowdown: Talk about a complete 180 from last year. This is a team that won 30+ games and got to the 5A Semifinals last year and lost. They lost basically everybody from last year and it is showing in their struggles early on. With Saltillo bringing some more heat and Oxford having all their players they lost last year back, they may struggle just to scrap their way into the playoffs.

Team - Saltillo , Current Record - 8-3, Head Coach - Cassie FarrisThe Lowdown: This is an experienced group this year looking to make noise in 5A after getting thrown around by Oxford and New Hope last year. With the Lady Trojans being real down and a revamped playoffs allowing three teams from each region, they stand a shot to earn a home playoff game this year usually awarded to the team that won the district tournament. This team stands a threat to win the 2-5A Region Title this year. Their good record though is three wins against Mooreville and three wins against 1A competition so we will see soon what they are made of. Given the other opponent's records though, this is the threat for 2-5A this year.

Team - Oxford, Current Record - 8-2, Head Coach - Shayne LinzyThe Lowdown: Oxford has a lot of depth this year thanks to an injury-plagued season last year that allows the Lady Chargers to play the brand of ball they like to play at: fast. Oxford's 8-2 record is stronger than Saltillo's 8-2 record because of their competition: MRA which has a couple Dandy Dozen players on the team Oxford has beaten, and a road win against 6A Hernando. This team is the favorite to get away with 2-5A this year.

With the girls out of the way, here are the boys. Like last year, 2-5A will be a war to get out of. Two teams are currently undefeated and another has a Dandy Dozen player on their squad.

Team - West Point, Current Record - 5-5, Head Coach - Brad CoxThe Lowdown: The Green Wave made strides last year being able to host the 5A North Half Tournament before getting knocked out by Callaway. The team lost a few players but they will compete in the ever-competitive 2-5A region. They do have a tall task in defeating two teams that have yet to lose and New Hope who has a D1-caliber player on their team. This year is just bad timing to lose a few players with every other team looking better than last year.

Team - New Hope, Current Record - 7-3, Head Coach - Drew McBrayerThe Lowdown: With their Dandy Dozen player, they have played some tough opponents early on and will go play out of state opponents before starting region play. This team failed to make the playoffs last year getting booted by Oxford after having defeated the Chargers twice during the regular season. With the new playoff format, they will have to get beat twice and anyone of the four teams can have that happen to them this year.

Team - Saltillo, Current Record - 11-1, Head Coach - Craig LauderdaleThe Lowdown: I personally saw this team against Jackson Prep during the Public vs. Private Challenge Oxford hosted and they are certainly getting things going in the right direction. This group has eight upperclassmen on the squad and five being seniors. It would be quite the shocker if they were the team left out of the playoffs after the region tournament. They still have to tussle with traditional powers New Hope and Oxford and not to mention reigning champion West Point.

Team - Oxford, Current Record - 10-0, Head Coach - Drew TylerThe Lowdown: Oxford is another veteran team that has seen it all. This by far the best shooting team Oxford may ever have. They are on their second best start in school history at 10-0, their best start was in 2001 when the Chargers went 11-0. That team went on to win their second state title. Oxford already has two wins from the state of Florida under their belt and about to head to Washington DC for another two against big time competition. This team will be battle tested for the rigorous region play where never in any 4-year stretch did Oxford not win its region tournament. Oxford has lost three straight championships to West Point (twice) and New Hope.

There is not a straight up favorite to win it all. Each team presents their own problems and can easily take the region. West Point because of what they lost is the underdogs to win it all, but it is really anybody's region.

Key: CL - Clarion-Ledger, AP - Associated Press, MP - Maxpreps, NR - Not Ranked. Seeds earned will be used for the playoffs. Maxpreps uses computer rankings. The Clarion-Ledger and AP uses just a top 10. MP poll will use a top 25. Classification rankings from any poll will use a top 10 for MP, top 5 for AP/CL.

The Lowdown: So, here we are. Back to the game Oxford has worked so hard to get back to after that bad-tasting defeat at the hands of Picayune where the Maroon Tide scored 21 unanswered points in the 4th quarter to win the 5A Title last year. It was by far the worst quarter of the year with a margin of -21 and that could not have come at a worse time when coming into the quarter, the Chargers had not given up that many points in a quarter and in most games last year.

The motto all year long is to "Finish the Drill." That meant to finish plays, finish the tackle, finish the game, make the play that decides the game. Oxford hasn't had to do a whole lot of that so far as most of the games were finished well before the last few minutes of each game save for Jackson Prep - the only game where the margin was within two possessions, and that occurred back in August.

Oxford comes in with the oh so obvious experience of being in the Championship game and having lost it the way they did. Every single athlete starting on offense and defense knows that feeling - and I probably didn't need to reiterate. It seemed like this whole season, there was just this bad taste entering every game this season that Oxford was trying to get out. Going through the entire season didn't seem quite as fun as last year was, up until that last quarter. Oxford was clearly the best team in 5A for 59 quarters last year. It showed every single quarter.

Oxford has scored 41 points in 11 of their last 12 games. The offense - whatever it has been Ben Bianco or Jack Abraham - has been moving the ball. The offense and defense has been fully healthy for just the past four weeks. Luckily it is the four weeks that mattered the most. The offense hasn't been stopped. The defense has shined a whole lot more often than not. Special Teams is clicking a lot more than it has been. This team has limped through the regular season having suffered injury after injury at some of the most critical positions (namely QB, WR, RB, and CB) and yet still managed not just a 13-1 record, but slaughtered nearly every single opponent despite all the injuries which included a big win over New Hope despite not having Jack Abraham and Kyree White, a road win over eventual AAA MAIS Champion Jackson Prep without two of Oxford's top CB's and facing a rarely used Polecat offense, and winning games by around 30 points every single game despite injuries to many members of the team.

The Laurel Golden Tornadoes is all that stand between Oxford and their first ever State Championship in Football. This is Laurel's 5th appearance in the State Title game, but first in 5A, first since losing to Oxford's crosstown-rival Lafayette in 2011. The Golden Tornadoes are looking for the third title in Football. They obviously wouldn't have gotten here without having some talent. Laurel QB Keon Howard behind Abraham is rated as the best QB in Mississippi in the Junior class while his best receiver, Omar Bayless, is regarded as the best Tight End recruit in the Junior class. Howard's numbers are impressive passing for around 250 yards per game, but only completing fewer than 55% of his passes. He does own a 35-9 TD-INT ratio.

The Tornadoes have been able to get this far despite the lack of a running game (Peyton Manning-isc if you will). The leading rusher for Laurel only has a little more than 600 yards on the season, but it is back-by-committee because they use as many as four backs during the game. They do have 33 rushing touchdowns on the season on just 2,000+ team rushing yards, meaning they will likely try to run the ball when inside the Oxford red zone. It terms of their schedule, they lost to Hattiesburg in a "huh?" result of 43-26. The same Hattiesburg team got clobbered by Wayne County a couple weeks later who got beat by Laurel twice (which is who they had to beat to get to this game). Ya'll figure that one out. They also lost a home game to division opponent Pearl River Central by a touchdown where all that team did was run the ball and did not attempt a single pass. Laurel still got the one-seed because PRC lost a couple games themselves and Laurel otherwise ran the table.

Oxford should be able to counter the passing threat with their healthy secondary. Last time Oxford faced a team who knows what they are doing when they are passing the ball, Oxford was without their two best CB's and also didn't tackle very well. That doesn't mean forget the run game. Laurel is a 55-45 run-pass team. Meanwhile when they do pass, they like to take shots down the field as Howard is getting around 21 yards per completion, the reason behind their explosive offense that has scored 545 points this season.

Oxford's passing game will receive a real threat to stop them for the first time this season as that is Laurel's strong suit on defense and might have a cornerback that can give DK Metcalf a challenge which is rare to find. Their run defense is below-average at best which is why they have lost games at all. Against East Central where they allowed 41 points, they allowed three 100-yard rushers. In their loss to PRC, all they did was run and did not even attempt a pass (that is according to the stats posted on Maxpreps).

Oxford is back for another crack at the 5A Title. This time, they want to finish the drill...

For Oxford to Win the Championship, They Must: Be Able to Run the Football - In the games where Laurel has lost to PRC and gave up 41 points to East Central, those teams have combined to throw two passes. Kenzie needs to continue his mad pace he has had lately to get this offense going.

Execute Special Teams - Oxford has done it especially in regards to onside kicks all year. That isn't the only area though. Laurel has four blocked punts on the year, enough to pose a threat in the punting game and can give Laurel a quick and cheap 7 if Oxford's offense does stall.

Prevent the Big Play - Laurel thrives on the big play. Their offense depends on it. Oxford must make those a premium for Laurel and they must make them drive the ball down the field and not allow big chunks of yards like they are known to do.

Finish the Drill - You knew that had to be one of them. Oxford needs to FINISH this time unlike last time. No doubt regardless of what I type out, this team will come out and play hard with a chip on their shoulder knowing exactly what happened last year.

For Laurel to Win the Championship, They Must: Defend the Pass - this might be the only team who can stand up to Oxford's three wideout threats long enough to give their offense a chance, which will be the best offense the Chargers have faced since the Starkville game.

Stop Kenzie Phillips - Or the Tornadoes will have to commit more people to the run, which plays into Oxford's hands. You can either stop this dangerous passing attack or you can stop the dangerous Phillips, but one of these battles must be won by Laurel if their defense is going to stop this offense.

Keep Oxford Out of the End Zone - 3 is a win, 7 is bad on defense. If Laurel can keep Oxford moving between the 20s and not into their end zone, they will stand a shot. Laurel won't be afraid to take 3 instead of 7 because they are confident in their offense.

No Turnovers - In their two losses, they have committed 9 Turnovers. In 12 wins, just 5. Oxford has forced 39 Turnovers this season. Keeping possession will be key.

Weather: (for Starkville, MS location) 50*F and Cloudy (very little chance of rain), Temps to drop to the mid-40s by the end of the game. Winds from the North at 5-10 MPH (from the "closed" end of the stadium). Wind Chills to be from the upper 40s to the lower 40s during the game.

Other Notes: Oxford is 0-3 all-time in the month of December in the sport of Football including 0-2 in State Title games. RB Kenzie Phillips needs 23 rushing yards to break Mont Dean's single-season rushing yards record of 1,690.

Directions to Davis-Wade Stadium: Take Miss-6/US-278 East for 48 miles. Turn right onto US-45 South, then continue onto US-45 ALT South for 51 miles. Take exit to US-82 West towards Starkville for 7 miles. Take exit towards MSU onto Miss-12 West for 3 miles. (At this point, there could be signs as to further directions as to where to park, but if not...) Turn left onto Russell St. for 1/2 mile. The stadium should be on the left. Total Miles: 110.